Vietnam slow to study political reform
Ho Chi Minh University's international relations campus is a jumble of drab modern buildings near the throbbing heart of the city formerly known as Saigon.
Officially it is serving the needs of one of Asia's last communist states. That means loyalty to the communist party and strict limits on criticism of the one-party system. But Vietnam, like its big neighbour China, has moved on from the days of Marxist propaganda attacks on the West and attempts to "re-educate" misguided bourgeois liberals. The university's teachers and students show a lively understanding about the legacy of Vietnam's history and the role of free thought in the nation's future development. It is a tricky balance.
In the staff common room, the youthful teachers eagerly show off their skill in using the internet to tune in to international radio and TV channels like the BBC and CNN. The head of the history department, Professor Vo Van Sen, says the university bans access to sex sites, but there are no restrictions on ideas or information from the outside world. Yet the government still makes a concerted effort to protect the political status quo, jailing political and religious dissidents and keeping a close watch over any critics.
Foreign journalists are always accompanied by an official from the Foreign Ministry, who vets all requests for interviews, with private individuals as well as government officials. Professor Sen is 46 years old, and lived through the triumph of Vietnam's communist-led army over the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies, as well as the years of hardship and communist orthodoxy which followed. He said the collapse of socialism in the Soviet Union did not mean the failure of socialism itself - only one variant of it.
He recognised the achievements of the "capitalist revolutions" of France and Britain. One, he said, was the idea of freedom of the individual. Another is the free market principle, which Vietnam has now embraced, with marked success, to generate wealth. But Professor Sen says he is still teaching Marxism-Leninism, and believes in it both as a framework for Vietnam's society and for understanding history.
Socialist societies, he said, made mistakes, including the suppression of individual liberties in Soviet-style communism. But he said Vietnam had corrected that, and now practises a "market-oriented socialist ideology." He points to contradictions in the ideology of the US and the West. "Jefferson proclaimed that all men are equal," he said. "But after that, the Americans accepted the slavery of black Americans for another 100 years."
New freedoms
The students at Ho Chi Minh university now enjoy similar personal freedoms - leaving aside politics - to students in London, Paris or New York. They like going to karaoke bars, and many in the international relations class plan to go abroad. These days they have more freedom to think freely, too.
Thao, a 23-year-old woman student, said she reads widely so she can form her own point of view about issues in international politics."Before, there were just two blocs, the communist one and the capitalist one", she said. "But now I think that is less important".
Khoa, a 19-year-old, is studying Western civilisation and plans to go on to study business administration in Germany, where he has relatives. He seemed unsure what to say about the importance of Marxist theory, and whether students here are permitted to make up their own minds. "Sometimes I have my own ideas. Then I discuss them with my teachers to make it clear," Khoa said.
Ho Chi Minh university is training a new generation of Vietnamese officials, business people and journalists. Its rather open-minded atmosphere reflects a society driven by an official policy known as doi moi, or "renovation". But political openness is coming much more slowly than economic liberalisation.
Sessions of the National Assembly are broadcast live on TV, but so far only a few independent candidates have been permitted to stand. Officials praise Vietnam's media for helping to expose abuses, such as corruption. But the media are not free to criticise the harassment of political or religious dissidents, or to question the one-party state.
Doi moi is Vietnam's equivalent of perestroika, the reform process in the Soviet Union which unexpectedly led to the collapse of the USSR and of the communist hold over eastern Europe. But Professor Van Sen is adamant that communism will survive in Vietnam. "The leading role of the Communist Party in Vietnam is stable. It's very, very good for economic development. It represents not only the model of Vietnamese development, but also the national interest, in our future development," he said.
By William Horsley - BBC News - October 22, 2004
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